The Great Galveston Disaster / Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

BOAT PASSING OVER TREE TOPS.

“It seemed to me only fifteen or twenty minutes before the fury of the storm struck us. I saw our boat passing over tree tops. I knew we were then approaching the bay shore, and possessing that knowledge as to when to leave a sinking ship, I procured some fifteen life preservers and gave one each to the crew, and told each man how to put them on and to follow me to the upper deck, and be ready to dive off when I gave the word.

“They were all frightened nearly to death, and only two succeeded in getting their life preservers on and reaching the top deck with me. When the fearful moment came for man to battle with the winds and water, I gave command to jump. In an instant three of us made a plunge into an immense breaker, which carried us high into the air.

“I looked back and could see nothing of the boat that I had just abandoned. I have been informed that she went ashore about a mile and a half west of Texas City. If the other ten poor souls were saved, I have not heard of them.

“Do you know there is something thrilling and exciting about being shipwrecked when you are near the shores. I presume a man feels the same that a parachute man does when he gets near the ground in his downward flight. If his parachute works all right he is safe. With a sailor he must first adjust his life preserver and try to avoid the rocks and trees.”

Mr. E. W. Dorris, of Houston, was one of the relief party that helped to bury the dead as they washed ashore from Galveston. At daybreak he was unable to secure a boat of any kind to cross, but he and two others constructed a raft of some loose planks and started across the bay, reaching the draw of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson bridge. They were unable to go any further or cross the channel, the party being entirely exhausted, and after signaling distress for more than an hour, the tramp ship grounded at the wagon road bridge, in the middle of the bay, finally sent a lifeboat to the rescue of the party, taking them ashore to the Galveston side. Mr. Dorris states that the party saw no less than 600 dead bodies between the bridge and the Santa Fe depot.